Inheritance Matters: Kinship, Property, Law [Paperback]

This book makes a compelling case for placing the social and legal practices of inheritance centre stage to make sense of fundamental questions of our time.

Drawing on historical, literary, sociological, and legal analysis, this rich collection of original, interdisciplinary and international contributions demonstrates how inheritance is and has always been about far more than the set of legal processes for the distribution of wealth and property upon death.

The contributions range from exploring the intractable tensions underlying family disputes and the legal and political debates about taxation, to revisiting literary plots in the past and presenting a contemporary artistic challenge of heirship.

With an introduction that presents a critical mapping of the field of inheritance studies, this collection reveals the complexity of ideas about 'passing on', 'legacies', and 'heirlooms'; troubles some of the enduring consequences of 'charitable bequests', 'family money', and 'estate planning; and, deepens our understanding of the intimate and political practices of inheritance.

Suzanne Lenonis Associate Professor of Sociology and Women and Gender Studies at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Daniel Monkis Professor of Law and Assistant Dean at Birkbeck, University of London, UK.

1. Introduction: Why Inheritance?Daniel Monk (University of London, UK)and Suzanne Lenon (University of Lethbridge, Canada)

Part One: Foregrounding Inequalities  Past and Present
2. Defining Family Trees and Building Family Fortunes: A Look into Dispossession and Enrichment Through Inheritance Laws,Allison Tait (University of Richmond, UK)
3. 'My Reputed Children': Legacies of Enslavement in Atlantic-Island Wills,Anne Bottomley (Kent Law School, UK)
4. 'Charitable Inclinations': Women's Bequests to Ireland's Magdalene Laundries,M?ir?ad Enright (Birmingham LlƒÎ